The power of the space bar

Showtime. Laptop running Showtime DRINK SPECIALS Pint and a shotHouse cocktailSoft drinks £8£7£2.50 Chromecast Chromecast Tracking Show 1A2B Comedy Night, 8:00 PM DMX lights TV 1 TV 2 Speakers iPad cue screen, facing the act Camera Sony a7C

Audio

Upload a playlist of MP3s, or trigger your existing music software. Showtime can dip the audio to play pre-recorded announcements.

  • The laptop plugs into your house mixer through a standard 3.5mm cable, or an audio interface.
  • Use Showtime for some or all of your music.

Visuals

Have complete control of a venue TV or projector. Either through an HDMI cable from your laptop, or wirelessly using a Chromecast.

  • Display videos, act names, interactive elements, and more.
  • If there is a last minute running order change, Showtime will automatically update what’s on the screen.
  • Show the lineup at the end of the night and drive social media follows.

Act timer

A simple web page that can be displayed on an iPad, Android tablet, laptop, or any other device that can display a web page.

  • Tells the MC the name of the act who’s coming next.
  • Countdown timer for acts so they have no excuse not to run their light.
  • Display messages to the host during the show from production.

Lights

Showtime can control any venue lights. Using the standard DMX protocol, you can trigger scene changes, effects and more.

  • Control everything, from LED uplighters behind the stage to moving head lights, venue festoons and more. Elevate your production with fully automated sequences, without needing to be an expert in lighting design.
  • Pre-show lighting effects can be synced to music.
  • Trigger Philips Hue and other smart lighting through web hooks.
  • Use pre-programmed scenes, or plug in a MIDI desk to trigger manually.
  • New to DMX? See how it works ↓

Audience polls

In the interval the TVs ask the room a question, with a QR code. People scan it and answer on their phones, and the results go up on the TVs after the interval.

  • The number of answers counts up on the TVs while the poll is open.
  • Mailing list sign-ups come in during the interval, and Showtime ticks off each one.

Cameras

Modern cameras and switchers like the ATEM Mini are able to accept a trigger to start and stop recording from a network connection.

  • Using a third party driver, a tap of the space bar lets the camera know that the next act has started their set, so it restarts the recording.
  • Because the space bar starts and stops each set, Showtime knows exactly when each comedian’s set began and ended.

Showtime and Confirmed

Confirmed is the world’s leading comedy club management software. It’s the one source of truth for who’s on the lineup and who’s running the show. Showtime is developed to run hand in hand with Confirmed, pulling data live.

Last-minute changes

If the lineup changes last minute, the act cue updates automatically.

Rider requests

If acts have rider requests, they’ll sit right in Showtime.

Audio tracks

If acts need to send an audio track, they can upload it direct from their Confirmed profile, and it’ll appear in the show, ready to go by their slot.

How Showtime fits your setup

Tell us what your venue already has, and we’ll show what you can use straight away and what’s worth buying.

Is there a screen the audience can see?
Do you have a spare device for the act timer?
What lights does the venue have?
How do you play music?
Do you record the shows?
Do you sometimes have music or improv shows, where you need to control the lights by hand?

Venues

Pop-up venues

Running the odd show in someone else’s space? Leave their lighting desk alone. Move the DMX cable from their desk to your USB to DMX converter, run the show, then plug it back. Nothing on their lights changes.

  • Everything fits in a bag: laptop, converter and cables.
  • One HDMI cable puts act names on their TV.
  • The act timer runs on any tablet or phone.

Full-time comedy clubs

Automate the whole night, so every show feels special and highly produced.

  • One press sets the lights, music, screens and timer.
  • Before the show, your TVs loop the logo, drink specials and countdown.
  • Record every set, run interval polls and grow your mailing list.

Festival venues

Temporary festival venues run on tight budgets, with lots of acts sharing each room. With Showtime, the acts who book your space can run complex lighting without a technician.

  • Rent a control kit for each room, or use your own.
  • We can help build each show’s cues in its tech rehearsal.
Showtime for festival venues

How DMX works

Lighting controller Lighting controller Lighting controller Showtime. PhoneControllerMIDI pad 3 → 5 3-pinAdapter5-pin DMX port Address Address buttons

Glossary

Address
The number a fixture listens from, between 1 and 512. You set it on the back of the light.
ATEM Mini
A small video switcher that can record your show, and start and stop recording when it’s told to over the network. Recommended hardware
Channel
One thing a fixture can do, like how red it is or how far it tilts. Each channel takes a value from 0 to 255.
Chromecast
A small device that plugs into a TV’s HDMI port and shows a web page sent to it over wifi. Recommended hardware
Cue
One step in the run sheet, like an act walking on. Each press of the space bar fires the next cue.
Cue screen
The act timer: a web page on a screen facing the stage, showing who’s next and how long the act has left.
Daisy chain
Plugging one fixture’s DMX OUT into the next one’s DMX IN, so the same data runs through every light.
DMX
The standard signal stage lights understand, carried on a cable that looks like a microphone XLR cable.
Fixture
Any light or effect, like a smoke machine, connected to DMX.
MIDI controller
A pad of physical buttons that plugs into your laptop, for firing cues and scenes by hand. Recommended hardware
Moving head
A light that can pan, tilt and change colour, all over DMX.
Run sheet
Your show’s running order, cue by cue.
Scene
A saved look for the lights, like Pink or Blackout, set with one button.
USB to DMX converter
A box that plugs into your laptop’s USB port and sends DMX to your lights. Recommended hardware
VFX
What we call the TV screens: whatever Showtime puts on a TV or projector.
Walk-on sting
A short burst of music as an act walks on.
Webhook
A web address Showtime calls to trigger something else, like Philips Hue lights.